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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29719785">Protection details</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefeatedHorizon/pseuds/DefeatedHorizon'>DefeatedHorizon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hellions (Comics), X-Factor (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drunk Dialing, F/M, Family Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Insecurity, Protective Summers family, Resurrection, Romantic Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:48:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,171</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29719785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DefeatedHorizon/pseuds/DefeatedHorizon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In X-Factor (2020) issue 6, we learn that Lorna left an "ill-advised voice mail" to Alex. This story is the follow-up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lorna Dane &amp; Alex Summers, Lorna Dane/Alex Summers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Protection details</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I tried to stop my brain from writing this, but then some people *coughs you know who you are coughs* encouraged me to do it and... well, I can't really pass on an opportunity to write Alex now, can I?<br/>I've never really written Lorna, so I hope she's not too out of character - I'm basing her mostly on her current representation in X-Factor.<br/>This started out as a silly fic but of course, Alex had to be a bit angsty in it.<br/>Warnings for language and discussion of some parts of a certain Summers  boy's anatomy. (nothing too shocking though, I think).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Lorna?” Rachel was standing in front of the door, her arms crossed in front of her body. “You’re not really going.” It was not a question.</p><p>“I am. You know what the Five say about it. It’s important for the resurrected to see familiar faces as they return.” Lorna tried to move past Rachel and through the door, but the red-haired kept blocking her way. </p><p>Rachel scoffed. “You know I’m a telepath, Lorna.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“So I know it’s not why you want to go.” </p><p>“Right.” Lorna rolled her eyes. “And what’s my secret motive to go, then? You think, what, that I’m going to go to Alex’s resurrection just so I can ogle his naked butt or something?” </p><p>“Eww, Lorna. He’s my <em> uncle </em>.”</p><p>Lorna smirked at that. “Well. As a reminder, there’s nothing there <em> I </em> haven’t seen before.”</p><p>Rachel was not amused. Nor did she move away from the door.</p><p>“Seriously?” Lorna huffed. “What is it to you, anyway? Is this some kind of weird Summers family protective thing? Because I’ve had it with those, too. I know I’m a mess, but I’m not going to be a danger to him!”</p><p>Rachel heaved a sigh. “It’s not like that,” she explained, her voice sad. “It’s… the opposite, actually. Lorna, Alex has gone through some… <em> stuff </em>, lately. And he’s not really himself. We just don’t want you to get hurt.”</p><p>“We?” asked Lorna, and Rachel gave her a meaningful look, tilting her head slightly to the side. “Of course, yeah. Jean and Scott. Managing Alex’s and my lives since forever…”</p><p>“They’re not wrong, in this case,” Rachel continued. “I’ve been exposed to some of Alex’s mind…” </p><p>Lorna gave her a glare.</p><p>“Believe me, Lorna, it was not intentional. And I wish I hadn’t seen what I saw, really.” Rachel shuddered. “I would recommend you stay away from him for now. I'm serious.”</p><p>Lorna shook her head, her green hair dancing over her shoulders as she did.  “I don’t see why. If he’s in such a bad state, doesn’t he need as many friends as possible?”</p><p>“Yes, Lorna. He needs <em> friends </em>.”  </p><p>“What do you want me to say, Rachel?”  </p><p>“Really? Do you want me to say it out loud?” The young woman raised an eyebrow. “Admit that you still have feelings for him. What you need to do, is deal with it, and then move on. You’ll find someone else.”</p><p>Lorna heaved a dramatic sigh. “Come on. Alex and I are not in high school anymore. I don’t have <em> feelings </em> for him. I happen to have sent him a drunk voicemail, yes. But just once. It was hardly a marriage proposal. Believe me, Alex and I have had weirder stuff going in the past.”</p><p>“Is that why you insistently asked the Five for the exact date of his last Cerebro backup?” At Lorna’s surprised look, Rachel shook her head and pointed at her temple. “Te-le-path,” she spelled out, mockingly.</p><p> “I don’t have feelings for him. But he’s my friend. And I don't have a lot of those these days.” </p><p>“Sure. Yeah.”</p><p>“And even if I did have feelings for him, he’s not interested,” Lorna added, somberly.</p><p>She turned to the side, putting some distance between them as if she was trying to avoid Rachel’s scrutiny - even though it was pretty much impossible with a telepath so powerful. “He’s probably sleeping with Psylocke, by now.”</p><p>“Nope, he’s not. That much I’m sure of.”</p><p>“Really?” There was a tinge of hope in Lorna’s voice, but she quickly cleared her throat, trying to sound uninterested. “Well, he probably should; she’s really hot,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.</p><p>Rachel shrugged. Lorna turned to her again, a pleading look in her eyes.</p><p>There was a sigh. “Okay, fine. Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”</p><p>Lorna chuckled. “Well. You know me.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The Arbor Magna always gave her a strange, out-of-time feeling. She had been here more than once, especially since X-Factor had started, but every visit still felt like something new, special.</p><p>Scott was already there when she arrived, of course. There was little this man wouldn’t do for his family.</p><p>“Hey Lorna, wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he greeted her, giving her a small hug. “It’s good to see you. I’m sure it’ll help him with re-entry.”  </p><p>“That’s why I’m here,” Lorna said, trying to appear absolutely casual. "For my friend."</p><p>“Hmm-hmm,” was Scott’s reply, and he gave her an enigmatic smile.</p><p>Lorna’s eyes widened a little. “Oh my god. Don’t tell me that you heard-”</p><p>Scott smiled wittily. “We’re brothers, Lorna. We share that kind of stuff.”</p><p>
  <em> Palm, meet face. Hi palm, I’m Lorna’s face. </em>
</p><p>“That’s fine, Lorna. Really. This kind of things happen.”</p><p>“I still can’t believe he would make you listen to that message!”</p><p>“He didn’t-  well, I mean, it’s not like he <em>actively</em> came to me with it. We just happened to be in the same room at the time he got your message and, well - Alex has never been good at hiding stuff. Especially from me.” </p><p>“Summers brothers. I hate you,“ Lorna muttered.</p><p>“Sounds like you don’t hate <em> all of us </em>,” Scott retorted, chuckling. </p><p>Lorna was about to reply, but the process had started, and soon the both of them were facing a brand new, covered in goo, and <em> very very naked </em> Alex.</p><p>She chose to stay back a little, letting Scott welcome his brother back first.</p><p>“Hey there little brother,” Scott said, covering Alex with the long towel that he had prepared. They hugged tightly. “Welcome back. I know you’d do anything to slack off, but try not doing this too often, will you? I’ll end up looking like Dad if my hair keeps greying prematurely." He patted his little brother’s sticky hair.</p><p>“I’ll think about it,” Alex smiled at Scott. “But you'll be fine, as long as you don’t grow a mustache...”</p><p>He was in the process of removing yellowish goo from his cheeks when Lorna walked closer to him. </p><p>“Hey Alex.”</p><p>“Lorna!” He gave her a large smile. “Thanks for coming for this. I’d hug you, but the goo is really sticky. I only hugged Scott because ruining his stuff is kinda my prerogative.”</p><p>“I’ll pass, then,” she said, letting out a small laugh. “Welcome back. You seem to be okay.”</p><p>“Actually, I always need to recharge a bit after Resurrection. Would you like to take a walk with me?” he offered.</p><p>“Once I’ve gotten dressed, obviously,” he quickly added with a grin that was best described as dorky.</p><p>Lorna nodded. “Sure, yeah, I'd love to. It’s a beautiful day, and there are still a few hours until the sun sets.”</p><p>“Great. Then I’ll grab a shower and join you outside.”</p><p>“Just make sure you’re home for dinner,” Scott intervened jokingly.</p><p>“Thank you Mister Summers,” Alex replied on the same tone, before he headed for the showers.</p><p>“And you’re welcome to join us for dinner, Lorna, of course,” Scott added. “We’re not letting Gabriel near the grill tonight, so the meat should be edible.”</p><p>“Then it’s an offer I can’t refuse. I’ll see you tonight then, Scott!”</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Alex and Lorna walked for a while, side by side, his body absorbing the energy from the sun as they did. Slowly, he recovered his strength as they chatted, telling each other about everything they had missed since the last time they had caught up. </p><p>It felt so natural, to be talking together, so comfortable, that they did not see the minutes pass and turn into hours. </p><p>Eventually, their wanderings led them to the place Lorna had set as Rockslide’s memorial, and they sat there for a while, side by side, watching the sun set down on Krakoa. They were going to miss dinner at this rate, but they knew Scott would understand.</p><p>“You know,” Alex said, casually, after a while. “When I was called for that mission, I was actually on my way to the Boneyard with a bottle of my dad’s hangover cure for you.” </p><p>She blushed, and he smirked. “You were never really good at keeping your liquor down.”</p><p>Lorna ran a hand over her face. “Yeaaah I was sort of hoping you would not remember this message, but Cerebro just <em> had </em>to back you up right after that. I’m lucky like that.”</p><p>He let out a small laugh, and she hoped that he could not see just how much that sound - the sound of his laughter - was making her heart beat faster. “Sounded like you had a wild night,” he commented.</p><p>She looked down. “More like a lonely one,” she whispered. “I guess my whole plan to take time to get to know myself better is not really 100% alcohol-proof.” </p><p>She heaved a sigh, then added, softly: “I’m sorry. I’m not sure why I called you. I should know better than getting drunk -” </p><p>“Hey, hey.” With the touch of a finger, he lifted her chin, making her look into his eyes. The gesture was intimate, but it felt so familiar, to them, that Lorna was not even surprised. “It’s okay, Lorna. You know I’m not judging. We all lose control sometimes.”</p><p>Then he added, in a small voice: “I wish the worst I’d done when losing control was send a drunk voicemail.”</p><p>She was no empath, but she could still feel his pain, understand his grief. She had known him for so long. “Alex- I heard about the orphanage. About Madelyne. I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Yeah… It was messed up. Lots of things are, these days.”</p><p>"I hear you, friend. Our latest encounter with the Morrigan left half of the team traumatized." </p><p>A comfortable silence settled between the two, as they contemplated the recent events they had gone through. There were not a lot of people Lorna could sit with like that, doing nothing. With Alex, just being there with each other was enough.</p><p>“I've missed you,” she blurted out suddenly.</p><p>Alex raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you've missed<em> me</em>? I thought it was just my butt. What was that message saying again? My <em> firm, sexy butt-” </em></p><p>She gently punched the side of his arm. “Shut up, Alex.” </p><p>"<em>Much better shaped than Scott's, despite what they say...</em> who's they, by the way? I meant to ask you."</p><p>"Stop it!" she was giggling, and so was he. </p><p>“God, I needed this,” he said earnestly, once he could catch his breath again.</p><p>“You needed someone to comment on the shape of your backside in a voicemail?”</p><p>He grinned. “Well, <em>that</em> never hurts, but I was referring mostly to this whole time with you. To your friendship.” He paused to gently put his arm around her, and gave her a quick side hug. </p><p>“I haven’t really laughed that hard for a while, you know?” He explained. “At least, not naturally - Empath sometimes pushes things too far.” </p><p>There was another pause, shorter this time.</p><p>“You hate it, don’t you?” Lorna asked softly. “Being part of the Hellions.”</p><p>Alex lowered his head. “Yeah. But apparently, it’s what's best for me. Not sure I understand why…” His voice trailed off, and Lorna did not need to look at him to know the expression on his face. </p><p>“What does Scott say about it?” </p><p>Alex took another shuddering breath. “He hates it as much as I do, I think. But you know how he is - always pragmatic. He says it’s better than them sending me to the Pit. And he doesn't have another solution.” He let out a bitter chuckle. “I’m just so damaged, even Scott Summers doesn’t have a better plan for me. Even Gabriel seems easier to deal with these days. Talk about being a lost cause.”</p><p>Lorna gave him a sad smile. “Well, Scott’s not a specialist like you and I. I mean, being possessed, it’s kind of our thing, right?” </p><p>He smiled back. “Don’t get too competitive, Polaris. I still think I win in that department.”</p><p>“Are we keeping count? Did you know that I was brainwashed again, just last week?”</p><p>“I didn’t. I was too busy getting killed in the line of duty,” he replied lightly.</p><p>She laughed at that. “Wow. We’re both so messed up. Therapy can’t do anything for us, we’re too far gone.”</p><p>“I think you’re right. Better save that money. Those tight jeans you seem to enjoy seeing me wear don’t come cheap in the human world.” </p><p>“I thought I’d told you to stop talking about that message?” </p><p>Alex grinned. “Sorry. Can’t help it. It’s not everyday I receive calls like these, you know.” </p><p>“Not even from your new colleague Kwannon?”</p><p>“<em> Especially </em> not from her.”</p><p>“Well she doesn’t know what she’s missing.” </p><p>Lorna moved closer to him, lightly resting her head on his shoulder. “You know I’m here for you, Alex, right? No matter what.”</p><p>He leaned towards her and swiftly placed a small kiss on her hair. “I know. I’m lucky to have you, even though I can’t be what you need me to be right now.” </p><p>There was a single tear in her eye, and she let it fall. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “We’ve got eternity.”</p>
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